Augie's preschool teachers take the children outdoors every day. A sign at the classroom door says "Inside Start" or "Outside Start," a signal to us (grand)parents to help the child dress accordingly. I had taught him to look for "I" or "O" on the sign, but one day he decided to sound out the whole word.
He was quiet for a minute and then he asked, "Grandma, is the 'O' silent?"
His teacher gave me a "He knows about silent letters?" look. He does, and he had realized that the word "outside" doesn't start with the traditional "O" sound. The next day I explained that there are pairs of letters that work together to make new sounds. The word "outside" is not pronounced "oat-side" or "oh-oot-side," because the two letters make a new sound. We found lots more "ou" words in stories we were reading, and I pointed out some other letter pairs. With his parents, he's been talking about "th," which also comes up a lot when you're sounding out words.
Some days he loves the sounding-out process. Other times he just wants to listen, to hear the story and let his imagination run and maybe snuggle close and hold somebody's hand while they read. It's all good.
9 comments:
I love your title. Snuggling and reading to Augie sounds like a good way to pass the day. How fun for you, and him.
He sounds like a smart one. They are the most fun to teach, I think, because you can see the workings of their little minds percolating away with new knowledge. You are both fortunate to have each other.
First of all, YAY for pretty flowers in the header!! I've got stuff bloomin' all over the place in Macon and it's good to see other cities following close behind!
Also, y'all wouldn't be too upset if, when Auggie and Viola Mae leave for college, I just move you and Blissed Out Grandpa to wherever we're stationed so you can teach our children would you? (oh! your blog name ....blissed "out"...but maybe Auggie doesn't know about your blog yet). Good for learning but good for laid back days too. It's all about the yin and the yang!
He will be reading the books to you before you know it. He is lucky to have such a good teacher. It is so fun to see when it all comes together for them.
He's a lucky little guy to have you right there ready to supply the exact info he's interested in at that moment. Accelerates his learning for sure!
How wonderful to see his mind at work and to have the time to appreciate it. That's one great thing about being a grandma.
I love your relationship with this magnificent little boy! Great title, too.
It sounds like he has nearly broken the code and will be reading on his own soon. Don't you just love seeing your grandchildren learn how to read? You, my dear, are an awesome grandma who is giving him a gift that will last a lifetime: the gift of reading.
I am so glad reading came to me a longggg time ago. I would hate to have to learn now. My 9 year old Grand is breezing through reading. She is on the 4th Harry Poter book. She was reading it outloud to me and I was amazed at how it just 'came' to her. One of my kids had such a long struggle to learn. She still does not read for pleasure. Now me.... I love to read (o:
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